Many pet owners go to great lengths to offer care and protection for their animals normally reserved for humans. For instance when taking the pet out for a walk, protection is needed from rain, snow, or sun exposure. Often, a pet walker is required to share his or her umbrella with the pet. This can be impractical for the pet walker and inefficient for the protection of both human and pet from rain considering that many pets curiously stray from the walking path. Holding a second umbrella over the pet while still holding on to one's own umbrella and a pet leash can be an awkward and unpleasant experience. There is a need, therefore, for an umbrella that can be used specifically by the pet.
Umbrellas and similar devices for protecting dogs and other pets from environmental elements have been described.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 324,117 (Feb. 18, 1992), issued to Antoine, discloses a dog umbrella design having a harness in the shape of a cylinder which wraps around the body of the dog. The umbrella is attached to the top of the harness. The umbrella includes a clear sheet which extends over the dog and drapes down around the entire body of the dog toward the ground. Air holes are present in the clear sheet to facilitate breathing. The harness of this umbrella can easily slip as the dog moves such that the umbrella falls down to the side of the animal, unless the harness is made very tight which would be quite uncomfortable for the dog. Furthermore, having the pet enveloped in a clear sheet, such as plastic, could prove quite hot for the animal.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 391,392 (Mar. 3, 1998), issued to Adams, discloses a pet umbrella design featuring a planar sheet which is held over a pet through a neck strap and a body strap. In this design, the animal's head is only partly covered, which is not desirable. Further, the front part of the sheet would apparently rest on the head of the animal, and the animal's head movements would be constrained, which would be uncomfortable. Furthermore, the flat design of the sheet could result in the accumulation of water on the sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,970 (Aug. 20, 1996), issued to Amato, discloses an animal umbrella comprising a saddle and a detachable umbrella. The saddle is strapped to a conventional harness and to the animal's collar. The umbrella portion is composed of a shank and a rigid canopy. The shank is detachably connected at its lower end to the saddle by snapping the lower end of the shank into a hole of the appropriate cross-section in the saddle. At its upper end, the shank is detachably connected to the rigid canopy. The rigid canopy cannot be folded, which makes it inconvenient to store or carry the umbrella when not in use. Further, the canopy is made of hard plastic material which can be heavy for the average pet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,611 (Jul. 6, 1999), also issued to Amato, discloses an animal umbrella comprising a saddle and a detachable umbrella. In this case, the umbrella is composed of a shank and a foldable canopy. The foldable canopy makes it more convenient to store or carry the umbrella; however, this umbrella suffers from the disadvantage that the dismounted folded canopy must be carried by the animal owner. In an alternative embodiment, additional canopy storing straps are described which provide a means for attaching the folded umbrella to the side of the animal. However, such straps are attached to the conventional harness; thus, the owner must sew the straps to the conventional harness or purchase a special non-conventional dog harness having the additional straps. This makes the means of attaching the folded canopy to the animal inconvenient.
Furthermore, both umbrellas described by Amato suffer from the disadvantage that the saddle must be attached to a conventional dog harness, which the animal owner may not already possess. This is particularly inconvenient when a dog owner does not own a harness but wants to protect the dog from the elements. In addition, the umbrella must be attached and detached from the saddle between uses, which is inconvenient, especially as additional time is required to attach the umbrella to the saddle and also may require greater manual dexterity. These disadvantages would be especially apparent in a sudden downpour, or by an owner who is not particularly dexterous (for example, an owner with arthritis).